Nine Tarrant County businesses have been named finalists for Vision Fort Worth’s inaugural 20/20 Awards, which recognize companies that excel in attracting and
retaining young professionals. Finalists were chosen from among 38 nominees.
Criteria included benefits, training and empowerment, and quality of life. The
finalists are the Balcom Agency, Brown & Gay Engineers and Paige Hendricks Public Relations, small company category;
Buxton, Community Bank and Whitley Penn, mid-sized company; and Freese and
Nichols, Higginbotham and Associates, and Weaver, large company. A reception on
the Reata Restaurant rooftop and awards presentation in the Four Day Weekend
theatre will be Wednesday, May 12. Vision Fort Worth is the young professionals
initiative of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, launched in 2007. ...
The TCU Schieffer School of Journalism will rename its Public Relations Student
Society of America for trailblazing educator Doug Newsom, APR, Fellow PRSA, an emeritus faculty member. A former chair of the Journalism
Department (1979-86) and University Advisory Committee and head of the Faculty
Senate, Dr. Newsom also has been president of the Texas Public Relations
Association, the Fort Worth and Dallas chapters of PRSA, the Southwest
Education Council for Journalism/Mass Communication and the Fort Worth
Professional Chapter of Women in Communications Inc. She is a charter life
member of the Public Relations Foundation of Texas. In 1992 she became the
chair of the PRSA College of Fellows, and in 1982 she received PRSA’s Educator of the Year Award, the first given to a woman.
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GET A JOB
The Bulletin in Bend, Ore., seeks a business intern for 12 weeks this summer,
start date May 17. Pay: $12/hour. Requirements: business or similar reporting
experience. Perqs: Biz editor John Stearns is said to be a favorite to work for and learn from, and Bend is lovely in the
summer. Send résumé and clips to Marielle Gallagher, mgallagher@bendbulletin.com.
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NEW MEMBERS
PRSA ... Megan Brooks, Texas Health Resources ... Rylee Nye, Tarrant Regional Water District
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
It’s continual learning for me at IBM. Every day. It’s that way when you’re on a team of 400,000 people helping to build a smarter planet and 399,999 of
those people are smarter than you!
Thankfully, in today’s intensely competitive and dynamic global marketplace, IBM continues to invest
in employee development. Through various avenues, the company provides
resources necessary to grow your skills, gain new experiences and build a
high-impact career. A career differentiated by expertise. In fact, IBM’s achievements in learning and development recently earned Fortune magazine
recognition as the No. 1 company for leaders.
This focus on skills and career development is also true of the Public Relations
Society of America. Professional development is one of the most cherished
benefits of PRSA membership. At Greater Fort Worth PRSA we continually strive
to exceed this expectation of our members through relevant monthly programs and
engaging events.
One of our most exciting professional development meetings is set for Wednesday,
May 19, at Colonial Country Club. Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO and founder of KDPaine & Partners and author of “Measuring Public Relationships: The Data-Driven Communicator’s Guide to Success,” will lead a three-hour morning workshop focusing on key elements of engagement,
including quantitative, qualitative and new relationship metrics. Over lunch
she will review measurement principles and how they apply to the new, wild
world of social media. It promises to be four hours of exceptional expertise
building that you won’t want to miss.
In this crazy world we live in, it is more true than ever that if you’re not learning and growing, you are slowly fading away. And that doesn’t sound like too much fun, does it?
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Cheryl Hart, IABC Fort Worth
More than 40 communicators from throughout the Metroplex attended our April
professional development seminar, “A 360º Look at Social Media,” to hear Steve Lee, APR, chairman and chief pathfinder at Quicksilver Interactive Group; Betsy Pasley, ABC, director of employee feedback at financial giant USAA; Jerod Morris, managing editor for CorporateComplianceInsights.com and MidwestSportsFans.com;
and Bud Kennedy, the prolific and popular Star-Telegram columnist.
Following the morning-long presentations, an interactive give and take at lunch
included spirited exchanges between the panelists and audience members. The
wide-ranging discussion focused on practical applications for social media and
real-world solutions to the challenges that social media offer. It was easy to
see why several attendees said they picked up helpful tips that they could
apply right away in their jobs.
Special kudos to the panelists, to IABC president-elect Laura Hanna for organizing the event and to IABC Fort Worth board member Paul Sturiale for serving as moderator of the luncheon panel.
Still in April, the 23rd was the closing date for entries in the Bronze Quill
competition, “2010: The Year We Make Contact with Excellence.” A large number of entries were received from communicators in public, nonprofit
and private organizations and companies throughout Tarrant County. We’re eager to see who walks away with this year’s coveted awards.
At IABC’s June luncheon, Bronze Quill will showcase the finest in area 2009
communications and marketing materials. In addition to superlative work and
good company, this year’s luncheon offers a rare opportunity to hear from a communications pro who
literally practices out of this world.
Speaker Josh Byerly is the spokesman for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is one of the communications team who
serves as the “Voice of Mission Control” and provides commentary from inside NASA’s Mission Control Center during space shuttle and International Space Station
flights.
By the way, if you’re looking for ways to get involved in the chapter, it’s not too late to join the BQ committee. Contact me at Hart Marketing,
972-691-3209 or cheryl@hartmarketing.biz, to explore ways you can share in the fun.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Covering the census? Check out the census resources for journalists. Resources include the Pew Research Center, the Census Director’s Blog, various toolkits and C-SPAN. ...
SPJ joined numerous signors of a letter to California Rep. Jane Harman in support of the congresswoman’s amendment to the Intel Authorization Bill that requires the fulfillment of a
report on over-classification. Over-classification refers to the government’s practice of classifying information that does not need to be closed and
further inappropriately withholding documents from the public. Read the letter
and view the other signors here. ...
SPJ national’s digital media committee has published its free Digital Media Handbook, Part 1. Committee member Rebecca Aguilar, formerly with Fox 4 News in Dallas and now a freelance multimedia reporter,
says the committee was formed to provide SPJ members with multimedia/digital
tools since many employers are requiring an expanded range of skills. “So whether you want to know how to blog or produce a digital slideshow, we have
the tools compiled,” she says. “Also, if any of the local members have any suggestions for the national SPJ
committee, please have them contact me.” Her e-mail is aguilar.thereporter@yahoo.com. ...
The winner of SPJ national’s “Name That Event” contest — choose the title for the 2011 convention SPJ will hold with the Radio
Television Digital News Association — will be eligible for free convention registration for two years. Here’s the online entry form. Enter as many names as you like until the deadline, June 1. More from Chris Vachon at cvachon@spj.org.
Closing words: “Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress. When I get fed up
with one, I spend the night with the other. Though it is irregular, it is less
boring this way, and besides, neither of them loses anything through my
infidelity.” — Anton Chekhov ... “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — psychologist and philosopher William James, who also said, “Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact” and “Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different
speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”
Closing words II, no wonder the Tea Partyers hate him, they can’t relate division: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like
a rock.” — Thomas Jefferson, whom an early biographer, James Parton, described (a year before a young Jefferson helped write the Declaration of
Independence) as “a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an
artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet and play
the violin.”
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